Lonely Hearts
by Kalta79
Summary: Wrote this for Valentine's Day and to make it up to Tifa/Rude for what I had them do in my Mystic Pizza story. It's five years or so in their lives. And obsidians wrote the Reno/OC scenes in chapter five. Kiri soup and behemoth steak floraise are made up dishes, please don't ask me for recipes, or to hunt down a behemoth for you :-) #angsty fluffy smut


**Chapter One**

Tifa was surprised and angry when they wheeled another patient into her room. "I thought this was supposed to be a private room!" the seventeen year-old snapped.

"Sorry, but he outranks you, and he needs a nice quiet room, and you're sullen enough to qualify." the head nurse told her, and Tifa was about to react to the reprimand when the nurse and the orderlies suddenly left.

Tifa lay in her hospital bed pouting, once again angry at the world. It was easier than admitting she was mad at herself too, for being clumsy enough to fall out of a tree spying on the Shin-Ra company, which not only aggravated her old injuries sustained when Sephiroth tried to kill her, but she had sprained both ankles, bruised her ribs, and broken her wrist.

"I'm Rude." the man spoke quietly.

Tifa turned her head to look at him. The light was dim, and his eyes were covered with bandages, but despite that, she thought he might normally be attractive. And even laying in bed, she thought he was taller than most men she knew. Not that she knew many, but that was because she had other priorities. "Excuse me?" she said to him, not in the nicest tone.

"I'm Rude." he repeated.

"Yes, you are." Tifa replied before she could stop herself. "This was supposed to be a private room."

"No, I mean that's my name." Rude explained.

"What kinda name is Rude?" Tifa asked.

"It's a long story. But I'm not supposed to talk too much, so I won't bother you anymore." Rude started snoring a few moments later.

Tifa just stared at the man. _You really_ _ **are**_ _rude_. Tifa thought to herself before the sedatives kicked in and she fell asleep too.

"What's your name, if you don't mind me asking?" Rude asked her the next morning, after their breakfasts had been delivered.

Tifa was about to say that she did mind him asking, but decided that if he told her his name, she could admit hers. "My name is Tifa."

"Tifa." Rude repeated. "Nice to meet you." He then tried to start eating his breakfast, but realized he couldn't see where the food was, and he didn't want to just use his hands to find the food and then start grabbing it into his mouth. "Um, Tifa, could you tell me where the utensils and my food are on this tray?"

Feeling a stab of pity for the man override her self-centered moodiness, Tifa grudgingly lowered herself into the motorized wheelchair the hospital had her use to get around in until her ankles and wrist healed, then drove herself to his bedside. "I'll feed you. Hey, it's eggs, a pancake, one strip of bacon, one sausage link, and chocolate milk. You got real food, they only gave me eggs and applesauce!" Tifa exclaimed.

"I'll just eat the pancake and eggs if that's okay. I don't like bacon or sausage." Rude said.

"What happened to your eyes?" Tifa asked as she cut up the pancake into bite-sized pieces.

"I can't tell you that, it's classified, I'm sorry." Rude apologized.

"It was probably Shin-Ra then. They do nothing but hurt people, I hate them!" Tifa's rage came back momentarily, but she got it under control enough to feed him. "Here's a piece of pancake, open up!"

As he chewed his breakfast, Rude tried not to be upset by Tifa's rage. Her name sounded vaguely familiar, and eventually he placed it. This must be the girl that Sephiroth nearly killed. That would explain her rage…he better make sure she never found out who he worked for.

* * *

 **Chapter Two**

As the days went by, it became part of their daily routine for Tifa to feed Rude. To her surprise, she found she liked taking care of someone. When she got out of the hospital, maybe she would take some nursing classes. She also found herself starting to like Rude. She didn't know much about him, but he was constantly polite to her, which made her wonder if his name was a joke, since he was anything but rude. Despite her rage at Shin-Ra that consumed so much of her time, occasionally her teenage fancies were taken by the notion that he was a tall, dark, and handsome stranger who depended on her to take care of him in his time of need.

A week after he was brought into her room, she woke up to a redheaded man talking to Rude. They weren't paying attention to her, so she pretended to be asleep to learn more about her mystery man.

"How ya holding up, partner?" The redheaded man asked Rude.

"Just fine, Reno." Rude replied, smiling.

"I bet." Reno said as he glanced over at Tifa with an undertone to his voice that Rude apparently understood, because he seemed to blush. "It's not what you think. She's just a nice kid who's injured as well. I can't even see her because thanks to **someone** , the lens of my sunglasses busted onto my face and now I'm bedridden until my eyes heal." Rude admonished his partner. "All I know about her is that she sounds pretty."

"That's good, cause you know how well serious relationships work out for us." Reno reminded him, ignoring the jibe about the accident that landed Rude here in the hospital. "And even though she's asleep now, she definitely looks worth tapping. Nice set of twin peaks on her."

"You're quite the reprobate, aren't you, partner?"

Tifa kept her eyes closed at the conflicting emotions she felt; angry at Rude for dismissing her as just a kid, happy that he thought she sounded pretty, offended at Reno's behavior, and a little bit upset that Rude already had a partner.

"How long have you and Reno been partners?" Tifa asked the next morning while wiping Rude's mouth after she fed him breakfast.

"Five years. I was hoping we wouldn't wake you up." Rude wasn't happy that Tifa overheard any of their conversation.

"I woke up when he left." Tifa lied, not wanting to admit to having listened in on their conversation. "It's nice to find someone you can share your life with." Tifa said evenly, not wanting to admit how much it hurt to say that to someone, since she had no one at all. She didn't even know if Cloud was still alive. Shin-Ra had done nothing but take from her!

Rude laughed, and Tifa was about to deck him for making fun of her pain, until he spoke. "No, he's my business partner. I don't have anyone outside of work." Rude almost frowned when he realized how pathetic that sounded, but might not have if had seen the faint smile appear on Tifa's face when he said that.

"Being alone is no fun." Tifa said with a sad wistful note in her voice.

A week after overhearing Reno and Rude talk about her, the nurse came in to give Rude his sponge bath, then got an emergency call to help out with another patient's Code Blue, so Tifa tried to take the opportunity to show him she wasn't a kid.

"I'll take care of you." Tifa eagerly said, driving her wheelchair to his bedside.

"Oh, I think I can do this myself." Rude protested, feeling around until he got a hold of the sponge. The idea of Tifa washing him mainly embarrassed him to the point that he could ignore that little voice that was interested in having her hands on him. Rude had learned more about Tifa, and Reno telling him she was attractive hadn't helped. She hadn't had any visitors at all, and based on other things she had let slip, she must be terribly lonely. He felt protective of her, even though he was sure she could take care of herself.

"You can't see yet, I can do it quicker and faster than you can." Tifa pointed out, putting her hand on the sponge as well. It was the first time their hands had touched, and they both paused for a moment. She then grabbed some of the bedspread in her other hand, and he covered her hand with his to stop her. "I can get you done in no time." Tifa said, trying to get the sponge away from him.

"I can do myself!" Rude exclaimed, louder than he had planned.

"It's not what I think, is it?" Reno blurted out from the doorway. He couldn't see the sponge because Tifa's body was in the way, but he did see Rude's hand preventing her from taking the covers off him, and them arguing over doing his partner.

Tifa and Rude's faces changed colors to match Reno's hair, and when Rude's hand slackened on the sponge, Tifa pulled on it, but she pulled too hard and it flew out of her hand and across the room, to hit Reno in the face. "Maybe I need to get injured too, if that means I can get sponge baths from hot jailbait." Reno smirked as he wiped his cheek off.

Tifa's face burned even worse, and she hurriedly drove her wheelchair out of the room, nearly running Reno over until he moved out of her way, and she headed towards the cafeteria.

"Why the hell did you have to do that?" Rude snapped at Reno. "Tifa just wanted to help. Can't you learn to keep your mouth shut just once?!"

Reno stared hard at his partner's face, surprised at his reaction. "Tifa, is it? You actually like her, don't you?"

"Wha…she's…I'm…I just…" Rude stammered at the unexpected question, then got himself under control. "She's just a nice lonely kid. Now I think it's time for my nap. Thanks for visiting." Rude turned over in bed to face away from Reno.

An idea formed in Reno's head as he stared at Rude's backside. "See ya later, partner." Reno smiled as he left the room…playing Cupid surely qualified as some kind of act of charity. If the girl Tifa was lonely, then she needed to get laid as much as Rude did, because Reno knew his partner was lonely too.

* * *

 **Chapter Three**

Tifa came back into their hospital room a couple hours later, and Rude was relieved to hear her wheelchair again. "I'm sorry about Reno. He's not really a bad guy, he's just a jerk." Rude immediately apologized to his roommate.

"Why didn't you want me to give you a sponge bath?" Tifa asked. "And why do you put up with Reno if he's such a jerk?"

"I didn't mean to hurt your feelings, I just don't want an underage girl bathing me." Rude felt stupid as he got the words out, since she wasn't underage according to Kalm's laws. At least this was all Reno's fault, for not only his eyes being damaged, but for upsetting Tifa. "And he's not a jerk all the time, we really enjoy trying out new bars together."

"Do you really think I'm just a kid?" Tifa continued questioning him as she got back into her bed.

"You overheard us?" Rude was getting more and more uncomfortable. Tifa was obviously very stubborn, and he was unsettled already by Reno's prodding about his feelings for her.

"Dinner time!" One of the nurses said as he wheeled in the meal cart, and Rude was grateful for the interruption.

Four days later, Rude and Tifa were surprised when instead of the meal cart at dinner time, a catered candlelight dinner was brought in. If Rude's eyes hadn't still been bandaged, he would have recognized the livery the people were wearing as belonging to a catering business that was affiliated with Shin-Ra. As it was, he had a sneaking suspicion that this was a stunt by Reno. He wanted to be upset with his partner's meddling, but he didn't want to put a damper on Tifa's obvious excitement.

"We'll be back in the morning to clean up." One of the caterers said once they finished setting up and decorating the table before bringing the food in. Just before they left

"What is the meal?" Rude asked Tifa when they were alone.

"I have no idea." Tifa replied. "It's some kind of meat covered with a thick whitish sauce over steamed veggies."

"It might be behemoth steak floraise." Rude said. "Can you cut me off a small piece of the meat please?"

"Really?" Tifa was surprised. "That's so expensive…I've only heard about it." She drove herself next to him and fed him a small piece of the saucy meat.

"Yes, it's floraise all right." Rude announced after carefully chewing the bite and swallowing. He could taste a faint hint of oyster in the sauce, and knew this was Reno's doing. "It's cooked right as well. Behemoth meat is even worse than grass-fed beef when it comes to adjusting cooking times if you're only used to grain-fed beef." Rude didn't even realize he was starting to lecture until Tifa peppered him with questions.

"You know a lot about food…how come? Are you a chef?" she asked him.

"Um, no. I just took a gourmet cooking class once." Rude explained.

"You can cook? Do you always eat like this then?" Tifa took a bite off her own plate and was amazed at how good it tasted.

"Not always like this, only for special occasions." Rude told her.

"So this is a special occasion?" Tifa smiled.

"What's going on?" Rude asked, when he heard someone come in and start doing something to his bed.

"I got an order to fix this bed." The maintenance man explained, and wheeled it out. "It'll be done in two days."

"But where am I supposed to sleep?"

"You can sleep in my bed." Tifa said, trying to keep the glee out of her voice over that idea. She didn't know that much about Rude, but what she knew fascinated her.

"I can't do that!" Rude protested.

"What do you think is wrong with me?" Tifa angrily put down her fork.

"Huh?" Rude was confused.

"We're having a nice candlelight dinner and you don't want to be around me." Tifa pouted.

"No, that's not it, I…" Rude didn't know how to extricate himself from this situation without hurting her feelings.

"Then what is it?" Tifa demanded to know.

"You…you hate Shin-Ra." Rude said lamely. That really wasn't the main issue, but he didn't know what else to say. He couldn't even figure out what the main issue was.

Tifa stared at him for a few moments, then finished eating in silence as she fed him as well, thinking over what he said. When they were done, Tifa let the silverware clatter on the plate, startling Rude. "So what if I hate Shin-Ra? I've got the right…besides, I like **you**." Tifa leaned over and kissed him.

Rude was shocked to feel her lips on his, and he froze momentarily before automatically responding. Before he knew it, she was in his lap and their hands were all over each other. "Are you sure about this?" Rude asked her, wanting to give her a chance to walk away before things went too far.

"Yes!" Tifa exclaimed, kissing him again. She was thrilled when he took her up in his strong arms and followed her directions to her bed. Her tall, dark, and handsome stranger was also quite the gentleman. And he was strong…she had only seen him covered up in his hospital bed until now, so she didn't know how fit he was until she got to feel his muscled body underneath her seeking hands. This was even better than her romantic fantasy of Cloud coming to her rescue. As Rude laid her down on her bed, Tifa was momentarily troubled by her thoughts of Cloud.

"What's wrong?" Rude asked her as he felt her tense up when he put his hand on her panties, stopping until she responded.

"It's nothing." Tifa replied, putting her hand over his, helping him undress her to reassure him that she wanted him. She had hoped Cloud would be the man she'd first have sex with, but that seemed like a lifetime ago, and she did like Rude, so she ignored the little twinge of guilt about someone else touching her.

Rude thought he heard a note of doubt in her voice, but there wasn't any in her doubt in her physical response to him. He was a bit nervous about not only having sex when he couldn't see, but with a woman who hated Shin-Ra. Rude's lack of vision was not the problem he thought it would be, since he had enough experience with women's bodies to manage, especially when the paper hospital gowns they were both wearing weren't good for anything.

Tifa's guilt faded as Rude's lips started exploring her body, following where his hands led. She started feeling other things she never had before, and she reveled in her body coming alive. She gasped when she suddenly felt his tongue, then started moaning as the sensations became even more intense. Rude's body was reacting intensely as well…it had been such a long time since he had been with a woman. Rude hesitated when he tried to enter her. "You're a…" he started to say in surprise.

"Don't stop…please don't stop now!" Tifa pleaded, caught up in the whirlwind of emotions she was experiencing. Her eagerness for him and his own need for release encouraged him to continue, and she quickly became more vocal, her cries spurring him on as he thrust into her. Tifa felt like was drowning in pleasure, and she clung to Rude as if he were a lifesaver. A slight tremor she felt go through him was the only warning she had as they both exploded into oblivion, their bodies collapsing on her bed, lying deathly still for a few moments as they recovered.

"Thank you." Rude said eventually, though that seemed an understatement. He hadn't expected it to be so intense, and he didn't think it could all be explained away by it having been so long for him.

"I should be thanking you." Tifa murmured.

"Why?" Rude asked, surprised.

"For boldly going where no man has gone before." Tifa said.

Rude pushed her silky hair back from her face and kissed her, and the rest of the night passed quickly in shared gratitude.

* * *

 **Chapter Four**

"I'm sorry, sir, I don't know what happened." The head nurse told Tseng as they walked into the room the next morning, finding only one bed there, remains of a candlelight dinner, and Rude in Tifa's bed, holding her close to him. What was left of their hospital gowns were littered over the floor next to the bed.

"There's no problem." Tseng said, taking note of the air of contentment surrounding Rude and the girl. He managed not to smirk, but leave it to Rude to find his way into the bed of the only really attractive girl Tseng had yet seen at this hospital, even if this did seem to be more like something Reno would do. Maybe he was rubbing off on his partner, though Tseng had hoped it would be the other way around.

"Sir?" Rude woke up, aware of others in the room.

"You're leaving. You're finishing up your recovery someplace better." Tseng told him, ignoring the protest from the head nurse at his implied insult about this hospital. When Tseng saw Tifa start to wake up as well, he decided to wait. "I'll give you an hour to get ready. Don't take too long." Tseng smiled at Rude's expression, catching the undertones Tseng intended him to. "The nurse has your suit." The nurse took the suit and followed Tseng out the door.

Rude felt Tifa's body stiffen with disappointment as she realized he was leaving. "I'm sorry." he told her.

"How sorry?" Tifa asked, a thought occurring to her. If Cloud kept his promise, maybe Rude would as well. And she wasn't going to ask as much of him as she did Cloud.

"What do you mean?" Rude wondered.

"Are you sorry enough to promise me something?" Tifa smiled at her thoughts.

"What's the promise?" Rude knew better than to agree to anything without first knowing the terms.

"That you'll be on the lookout for Seventh Heaven. And that if we ever meet again, you have to cook me dinner." Tifa explained.

"I'll cook for you, but what do you mean about Seventh Heaven?" Rude wanted to know.

"Just promise me you'll watch out for it." Tifa said.

"Alright, I promise." Rude said, though it didn't make any sense to him. But it was just promising to be alert, which was his job, so he didn't see anything wrong with it.

"Thank you." Tifa kissed him, and he responded to her other overtures. The nurse coming back to bring Rude's suit to him accidentally walked in on them, but Rude couldn't see and Tifa wasn't concentrating on anything but Rude, so the nurse just put the suit on the doorknob and hurriedly left.

"You're quite handsome." Tifa told Rude once he had gotten dressed with a little help from her.

"Good, you're dressed. Let's go." Tseng interrupted them as he entered the room and led Rude out, who blurted out a quick goodbye to Tifa as she just stared sadly after him.

"Hey buddy, how's it going?" Reno asked over the intercom in the helicopter, when Rude was secured in the passenger section.

"You're an ass!" Rude replied. He didn't need to see Reno's face to know he was smirking.

Reno laughed. "No wonder we had an hour delay in getting you back. Way to go, partner!"

"Are you Tifa Lockhart?" A big dark-skinned man asked after knocking on her hospital door two days after Rude's abrupt departure. She was trying to rationalize it all, but she just felt even more lonely than she had before Rude was wheeled into her room. She wanted someone to take care of.

"Yes, that's me. What do you want?"

"We could use yer help. We've heard ya got a problem with Shin-Ra. We do too." The man stated.

"Who's we?" Tifa asked suspiciously.

"AVALANCHE." The man said after hesitating. Just then a little girl burst into the room and threw her arms around the man's leg.

"Marlene, I told you to wait outside." The man tried to scold her, but obviously cared too much for her to put much force in it.

"Well, you're a pretty girl." Tifa told her. "Marlene, is it? How old are you?" Marlene just hid behind the man's leg when Tifa spoke to her. "Okay, what's AVALANCHE?" she asked the man.

"Hey, you got anything planned for tonight?" Reno asked Rude.

"No, why?" Rude hoped he wasn't in for another night of Reno's 'good ideas'.

"There's a buncha buzz about a new bar opening tonight in Sector 7. It's called…" Reno paused to look at the flyer in his hand. "Seventh Heaven."

"Did you say Seventh Heaven?" Rude's eyes widened momentarily, and he wanted to make sure he hadn't misheard Reno.

"Yeah, why?" Reno was surprised at his partner, who got a faraway look in his eyes before grabbing the flyer out of Reno's hand. "Hey, what gives?"

"It opens at 9pm." Rude read the flyer voraciously. "I'll meet you there at 8:30." Rude hurried out the door, leaving Reno staring after him in total confusion.

Tifa was nervous as she checked her outfit for the third time. It had been a year and a half since the hospital, and she didn't know if Rude would have even heard about the bar opening. But just in case, she wanted to look her best.

"You look so pretty, Aunt Tifa!" Marlene said, coming into her room.

"Why, thank you Marlene. But aren't you supposed to be in bed now?" Tifa asked her. The little girl had become very precious to Tifa, and the girl reciprocated.

"Will you read to me first?" Marlene pleaded.

"Okay, but only one story. Back to your bedroom first though."

Marlene eagerly ran to her bedroom, and once Tifa tucked her into bed, she told Marlene a little fairy tale love story about a princess who saved the kingdom with the help of a dashing stranger, who also swept the princess off her feet in the process, and everyone lived happily ever after. When Tifa got to the ending, Marlene had fallen asleep, so Tifa gently kissed her on the forehead and went downstairs to make sure everything was ready for the grand opening. She had convinced AVALANCHE it would be smart to have a legitimate business where they could meet frequently without suspicion, to help shield them from Shin-Ra spies, and she hadn't forgotten that Rude had said that he and Reno like to try out new bars.

* * *

 **Chapter Five**

"What the hell?!" Reno exclaimed when he saw Rude in front of the bar as they waited to go in. "You've shaved and changed your clothes…and are you wearing cologne? Is your grandmother in there or something?"

Rude tried to ignore Reno. He was already nervous, in case this was what Tifa had meant by wanting him to promise he'd be on the look out for Seventh Heaven. And he had never actually seen what Tifa looked like, which didn't help his nervousness. He knew Reno had to be telling the truth about Tifa being attractive, and her body certainly was, but he still had never seen her face. He was grateful that Reno had a short attention span and now was just checking out the women who were waiting for the bar to open. Finally the doors were unlocked and Rude found a nice booth where they had a good view of everything, but were somewhat hidden. He was trying to figure out if any of the women there were Tifa, when Reno suddenly spoke.

"Hey, isn't that Twin Peaks from the hospital?" Reno blurted out, as he was also scanning the women in the bar, but to decide which of them would best scratch his itch. "Is that why you got all fancied up? She's still hot…go for it, buddy!"

Remembering how Tifa had mistaken his and Reno's partnership when he first met her, Rude decided a little payback for his referring to Tifa as 'Twin Peaks' was in order. "Did I ever tell you that she thinks you're gay?"

"What?" The word burst out of a shocked Reno and he spluttered over his beer for a few moments. "I'm...I'm not gay!" He jumped up out of the bench and stood in the center of the bar room. "Any woman who wants a fine piece of ass can have me right here, right now!" Reno yelled.

Reno had just finished offering himself to the bar when a loud belch was heard from the corner. A bunch of stunned women stood staring at him, wondering if they were being invited to an orgy where they expected to jump him on the floor of the bar. Tifa started forward to object when the person Reno had assumed was a very muscular man came over and sized him up, he was about the ask him what he wanted when he noticed the large breasts perched like boiled eggs on "his" chest and took in the dangling earrings and subtle makeup.

"I'll take you up on that, Sugar. I've seen better built toothpicks and generally like my men buff, but I've been on the road for a while and could use a good poke." she said, eyeing him up and down with her thumbs hooked onto the belt loops of her jeans. She was extremely tall for a woman and big, as in solid with a broad, suntanned face that wasn't the least bit attractive.

Reno blushed at how she was sizing him like a side of meat. "On the road?" he asked in a voice akin to a prepubescent squeak.

"I own my own truck; I haul all the time and run a class outfit." she explained.

"I'm sorry I'm not your type." he said and went to dash away. She caught a hold of the back of his jacket, easily holding him in place.

"I like your looks just fine and as I said, I got an itch to scratch." she slowly said in a way that made his skin crawl.

"I meant a _local_ woman." he ventured.

"Shoot, Edna and I just moved here, we're delighted to make your acquaintance." she answered back as she starting advancing on him.

"Edna?" he squeaked as he started to retreat from her.

"My truck. You ever done in it a parking lot? I have a sleeper in Edna." she said, taking a hold of him.

"That's not something I'm comfortable doing." he said as she put a hand on his shoulder.

"You'll love it." she said as she started to all but drag him out with her and then paused. "You wearing clean underwear and socks?" she asked him.

"Of course." he snapped, offended.

"Good 'cause some guys think if you turn them inside out, they're clean and I don't like to stink up Edna while I fuck. I get really sweaty as it is." she said with a chuckle and he went pale and swallowed hard at this.

"I'm sorry Miss…., I don't think I can do this." he said. She answered by scooping him up

"Bertha B. Bumchuckle, no reason to be shy and you did offer, Big Boy." she said as she carried him out like he was a new bride as he looked back at Rude with pleading eyes, but Rude just toasted in his direction with his beer and grinned back at him.

"If the truck's a rocking, don't come a knocking." Bertha said in a voice like a fog horn as she carried the cringing Reno out. Who vastly wished he would learn to keep his big mouth shut in the future regarding offers as he prayed to the Goddess as he hadn't in his life that he would survive the night.

Tifa recognized Reno right away when he started yelling his offer, and while Bertha was talking to him, she hurried into the bathroom to check her appearance. If Reno was here, so was Rude. When she came out, Reno was gone, and Tifa looked around, but she didn't see Rude. Feeling a little upset, she just went back to work. Rude stayed in his booth until closing, watching her every movement, when one of the waitresses told Tifa that there was a man who refused to leave. Tifa refused the offer of having one of the AVALANCHE grunts kick him out, and she marched over to the booth.

"You need to leave now sir, we're clos…Rude?" Tifa just stared at him.

"You're beautiful." Rude blurted out.

Tifa sat down next to him, trying to get a hold of herself. He was here like she had hoped he would be, but now she was unsure of what to do…after all, it had been a year and half since they had that special night together, and she didn't know how where to go from here. "Thank you for that, and for keeping your promise. You're still handsome. How have you been? Your eyes are obviously better."

"Uh, I've been keeping busy." Rude felt just as awkward as she did. "This is a nice bar."

"Why don't I give you the grand tour?" Tifa suggested. When they both stood up, she took his hand to show him around, and they both felt a warm tingle when their hands touched. When she was done showing him around the bar and her office, she led him to a locked door and she pulled out a key. "I live upstairs." Tifa explained. "Please be quiet, I've got company."

They walked up the stairs and Tifa showed him her kitchen. "Is this good enough for you to cook me dinner? Or would you have to do that at your place? You did promise that too, remember?"

Rude nodded, then they both heard a door open in the parking lot, some odd noises that sounded like cries for help, and then it stopped when a door slammed shut. Tifa went to one of the windows and looked out into the parking lot, and Rude was right behind her. "I wonder what that was, the parking lot's empty except for Bertha's rig." Tifa said.

Rude placed the name, and he couldn't contain his mirth over Reno's fate.

"What's so funny?" Tifa asked him while continuing to look out the window.

"Bertha is just getting some special medication for that itch of hers." Rude explained.

"What's so funny about that?" Tifa went to turn around to look at him for an answer, but Rude was too close behind her and she ended up in his arms.

"Let me go!" Reno snapped as Bertha carried him to her truck in a bear-like grip and she set him down.

"I'm just trying to help you if you're shy. You did offer after all." she reminded him as she set him down and opened the door of her truck and gestured with her head that he should climb in and he stared at the open maw of the truck entrance like it contained a torture chamber within and reluctantly climbed in.

He gasped with outrage as he felt a hand on his bottom and glared at her and she just smiled and said she was "assisting" him in. He walked past the front seats and saw the bed where he would have to give the forced performance of a lifetime and wished she were just a tad bit attractive. The sleeping cab was surprisingly neat with a TV mounted to the wall with the bed neatly made with a rather girlishly pink quilt and sheets. On the walls were autographed pictures of really muscular men that were all personally addressed to Bertha, some of who he recognized from movies. Every single one of the comments was very flattering.

When Rude's arms went around Tifa, she looked up at him with a pleased expression on her face. "My bedroom's this way." she whispered, leading the way. Rude wasn't sure what he expected her bedroom to look like, and what he saw was a somewhat empty room except for the bed with a handmade floral quilt on it, a dresser, and a nightstand. "Just remember, I've got company, so we've got to be quiet." Tifa said as she drew his head down to hers so she could kiss him.

"So you wanna take off them duds so I see what I have to work with, my little carrot dumplin'?" she sweetly asked him.

"Carrot dumpling?" he squeaked as she advanced on him.

"Because of your hair and you're yummy." she said in what he thought she meant to be a flirtatious voice and gave a laugh akin to a donkey's bray.

"Perhaps you should undress first?" he nervously suggested as she advanced on him and he retreated until his back hit the wall.

"Okay." she agreed as she leaned over him and stood back a bit. "You're in for a real treat, I've been into body building since I was thirteen, I'm not like those toothpick women you see waltzing around in knee aching high heels. I've won prizes for my body." she proudly said as she undid her plaid shirt.

"You were in beauty contests?" Reno asked her with terror in his voice, unable to believe it. Were they competitions for circus freaks or something?

"Women's body building contests, I've taken top place in Miss Fit Gaia four times and I'm the cover model for _Get Trucking_. I'm a real catch; I've got this rocking body and tons of men after me. However I'm pretty fussy. Just think, I have my own truck and thriving delivery business. I'm in demand and you get all of this." she said as she took off her shirt and revealed a sports bra that clearly wasn't needed. Her firm breasts were perched on a rock solid torso like a pair of boiled eggs.

Reno blanched as the rest of her clothes came off of her and he turned pale. Never had he ever encountered so masculine a body on a woman, slap a wig on Rude and swap out his male parts and it would be like making love to him…..and Reno had volunteered himself to service her. _Oh the humanity_!

She stood naked in front of him, clearly proud of her body. "Well sugar, it's time to lose that fancy suit as it's time for fun." she reminded him and frowned how he seemed to be frozen in place. "I can undress you if you want it more romantic-like." she suggested.

"No that won't be necessary." he said as he doffed his suit jacket and undid his shirt and then belt buckle with trembling, nerveless fingers and soon stood before her wearing only his boxer shorts that read " _Turks Have Bigger Weapons_ ".

Rude's hands sliding up her body to remove her dress excited Tifa as she loosened his tie and started unbuttoning his shirt. As soon as he had taken her dress off, she slid his jacket and shirt off, enjoying the feel of his muscled body underneath her hands again. Tifa left his tie on, so she could use it to pull his head closer to kiss him while undoing his belt, and Rude unfastened her bra before his hands roamed down to her panties, caressing her as he lowered them down her thighs until they just slipped off her.

"You intend to keep your drawers on?" Bertha said with a frown. Reno took a bracing breath and shucked them off in one quick movement. "Hubba Hubba, it looks like you've been hiding a rocking bod of your own under them fancy duds of yours. More like a swimmers build, but not bad." she said as she advanced on him and he flinched as she started to grope him.

Feeling him tense, she decided to get the show on the road and swept him up in her arms and set him on the bed. He squeaked when she did this and scooted back as far as he could until his back hit the wall and she loomed over him.

"Relax, I'll be gentle with you." she assured him as she set her hand square in the center of his chest and started to climb on top of him.

"No!" he said and then added in a shaky voice, "I want to be on top to properly take care of a beauty like yourself." he lied, not wanting to risk being crushed like a bug beneath the Behemoth of a woman.

"So you are romantic-like." she declared as she lay back.

"Can we turn the lights out? I am a romantic." he said with more confidence this time.

"Have it your way." she said and Reno, feeling like a Lilliputian attempting to take down Gulliver, he mounted that mountain of a woman and thanks to having a great recall for detail, substituted various anonymous beauties he had slept with at different times and that allowed him to give the performance of his life until Bertha was squealing like a stuck pig and so began one of the weirdest nights of his life that he would never forget.

Tifa had to keep telling herself to be quiet because Marlene was in the next room, because her reunion with Rude was turning out to be everything she had hoped for, and she was glad she had waited for him. Rude was glad he had not been entirely celibate in the last year and a half, he didn't want to be rusty with Tifa, even though he didn't know they would ever cross paths again after the hospital. A moan escaped Tifa's lips as she felt Rude inside her, and he was encouraged to do his best to give her another night just as memorable as their first one.

* * *

 **Chapter Six**

A knock on her door woke Tifa up. "Who is it?" she called out, turning over to find Rude still asleep, so she moved the quilt to cover him up.

"Aunt Tifa, is it time for breakfast yet?" Marlene answered, opening the door and running over to her.

"I'll make it, just give me a few moments and close my door please." Tifa said. Marlene nodded and left, and Tifa sighed with relief when she closed the door. "That was close." she told Rude, who had woken up and uncovered his head.

"Who is that?" Rude asked, stunned to find out that Tifa's company was a small child.

"She's an orphan, I take care of her while her adoptive father is working. Which is frequently." Tifa explained. "Would you like to eat breakfast with us?" Tifa wasn't going to get involved with anyone who didn't get along with Marlene, and she wanted to know before things went further with Rude.

Rude's cellphone rang, and he spoke a few words to whoever called, then hung up. "I've got to go to a meeting now." Rude told Tifa as he started getting dressed. She helped him find his clothes, because they were both a bit stiff and sore, some of it was work-related, some of it from their active reunion.

"When can you make me dinner?" Tifa asked when they stood at the door to the parking lot after she snuck him downstairs unobserved.

"I'm not sure, I never know my work schedule ahead of time." Rude said, not wanting to let her know he worked for Shin-Ra until he found out if she still hated them. "I'll call you?"

"I only have the work phone for the bar." Tifa felt guilty for lying, but her cellphone was for AVALANCHE, and she didn't want to cause any problems.

"Okay, I'll just drop by the bar." Rude kissed her on the cheek before leaving. Tifa leaned against the door and sighed before going to make breakfast for herself and Marlene. Rude was surprised to see Reno just about falling out of Bertha's rig as he was walking past it. A sound like a small plane engine was coming from the cab, and Reno quietly closed the door on Bertha's snoring.

"You're an ass!" Reno exclaimed when he saw his partner. "Why didn't you save me last night?"

"You're the one who wanted to prove you weren't gay." Rude reminded him with a smile.

Reno felt a strong urge to deck Rude, but he wasn't feeling up to any violence right then. He felt like a nice warm bath to recover from Bertha. At the meeting, he felt like hitting Rude again when he would wink at him, and Reno would feel his cheeks burn. He wanted to pretend last night never happened, and Rude knew. Rude felt himself smiling a lot during the meeting, and it was hard for him to focus on what Tseng was saying.

Tifa watched Rude as he cooked dinner for them three weeks later. She was pleased that he had no objection to cooking for Marlene as well. Their schedules hadn't synched up until now, and the previous failed attempts for their dinner date had frustrated both of them. Rude had decided to make a special variant of macaroni and cheese when Tifa told him that Marlene would be present. There were ingredients for kiri soup as well, and even though that wasn't a soup usually served with a pasta entrée, he decided to make it anyway.

"How come you don't have one of those funny hats on?" Marlene asked Rude, getting impatient with waiting to eat.

"Do you mean a chef's hat, Marlene?" Tifa smiled. "We don't have one, that's why he's not wearing it. But I think…" She took Marlene's hand and led her into the living room. A little while later, they came back and Tifa put a newspaper hat on Rude's bald head while he was tasting the soup. Marlene giggled and Rude turned around to try and scold Tifa for bothering the cook, but she smiled at him and kissed his cheek. "Now you're officially a chef." she said.

As they sat down to eat, Rude started explaining about the food. "The kiri soup needs to be eaten first, it's very delicate and spoils quickly. The macaroni and cheese is warm enough to stay fresh, and I hope the spices agree with you."

Tifa cautiously took a small taste of the soup. "Oh, this is heavenly!"

"What are these white pieces?" Marlene asked when she had finished her soup and started on the macaroni and cheese.

"Tiger crab flakes." Rude answered.

"That's a very special meat." Tifa told Marlene, wondering where Rude got such a rare crustacean. They were almost an endangered species, but she'd talk to Rude about that later. He might not know the extent of Shin-Ra's rape of the planet.

Tifa put a protesting Marlene to bed after dessert, which was a nice caramel apple cheesecake. "It was nice to meet you, Mr. Rude." Marlene told him as Tifa walked her to her bedroom. "Will you tell me the story about the princess and the flashing stranger again?" Marlene asked Tifa once she had changed into her nightgown and Tifa made her brush her teeth.

"It's a dashing stranger." Tifa smiled as she tucked Marlene into bed. She obliged her charge by repeating the story.

"Is Mr. Rude a dashing stranger?" Marlene interrupted halfway through the story.

"He's not a stranger to me. He's my special friend, but he's also my secret friend, okay?" Tifa explained. The first hurdle had been passed, he would get along with Marlene, now she needed to know if she could trust him with her anti-ShinRa activities before the other AVALANCHE members found out about him.

"Will you thank him for dinner for me?" Marlene asked after promising to not talk about him to anyone else.

"I will definitely thank him." Tifa promised before kissing Marlene good night and turning the night light on and the overhead light off. Closing the door, she headed back to the dining room to clean up, to find that Rude had already gotten most of it done. Grabbing the soup cup and the silverware still left, she took them into the kitchen where Rude was filling up the dishwasher. "You clean too?" she asked him.

"Cleanliness in the kitchen **must** be of the same high standard as your cooking." Rude quoted the chef who taught him.

Tifa wished he didn't already have a job, she'd hire him as her housekeeper/cook in a heartbeat. "Marlene says to thank you for dinner."

"She's welcome. I hope you liked it too." Rude said as he took the last of the dishes and silverware from her to put in the dishwasher before turning it on.

Tifa smiled and stood up on her tiptoes to whisper something in his ear and he blushed. She then took his hands and started leading him towards her bedroom when her cellphone rang. She groaned in frustration and hurried to answer it. "Hello?" she snapped, then listened for a few moments. "I have Marlene tonight, remember? I can't leave her alone. Oh, fine, I'll be there as soon as I can then." Tifa hung up the phone almost violently, then turned to Rude. "We're going to have to finish this another night." she said regretfully.

"I thought you didn't have a cellphone." Rude commented.

"Oh, it's not really mine, it's for Marlene. I mean to make sure she's okay for whoever's taking care of her when her dad is working. That was him, he needs help, and a babysitter is on the way." Tifa tossed the half-truths out as they came to her. She now led Rude downstairs to the front door. "I'll try and make this up to you another time. Thank you again for dinner." Tifa kissed him, and they both had to force themselves to separate.

"Good night." Rude told her before leaving. It wasn't until he got back to his place that he realized he still had that newspaper hat on his head. He carefully took it off and put it on his kitchen counter. Tifa was the most interesting woman he had met in a long time.

Tifa watched Rude leave then went back upstairs to change out of her dress and wait for whoever Barret sent to look after Marlene. A little while later, there was a knock on the door and Tifa hurried to answer it. "Oh, it's you, Jessie. Marlene's already in bed."

"What smells so good?" Jessie asked, walking into the apartment.

"We had a special dinner. There might be some cheesecake left in the fridge. I don't know when I'll be back." Tifa explained before leaving for whatever mission Barret wanted AVALANCHE to accomplish tonight.

* * *

 **Chapter Seven**

Tifa and Rude hurriedly undressed once they were in her bedroom. The last few months they had been increasingly busy with their clandestine activities, and it had been harder to find time together. This was the first time since their reunion they could spend the whole night together, and Marlene was with Barret, so they didn't want to waste any time. They were so eager to be with each other that as soon as they were on her bed, Rude was inside her. It was over fast, and Tifa was only partially satisfied. Rude apologized and promised to do better next time.

"I know you will." Tifa smiled. "You always keep your promises to me. And we have the whole night." She put her head on his chest, thinking how she was going to find out if he'd be interested in joining AVALANCHE in the morning. She wasn't planning to tell him everything, just to find out how he felt about Shin-Ra first. Tifa had been putting it off for longer than she thought, just in case things went bad. Since the day her whole life went up in smoke at Nibelheim, she hadn't been really been happy much, and losing Rude would hurt. Tifa told herself she didn't need to worry, because she could trust him, couldn't she?

Rude hoped she still didn't hate Shin-Ra, because he didn't like not telling her the truth, at least about his employment. He couldn't tell her everything, but he would find out in the morning if he could tell her he was a Turk. He cared more about Tifa than any other woman he had known, but being a Turk was not something he could just walk away from. He stroked her hair and she moved her head to look at him, smiling when he started stroking the rest of her as well. Soon he was making good on his promise, and Tifa was clawing at him as she cried out. As they lay in each other's arms afterwards, she imagined the rest of their lives being just as enjoyable as this.

Reno reread the latest intel reports for the fifth time, hoping the sinking feeling would go away. "Dammit, Rude! What is it with you and AVALANCHE women?!" He dreaded having to tell his partner that the woman of his dreams was essentially a traitor as far as Shin-Ra was concerned, but he better get it over with as soon as possible.

Rude was surprised and annoyed to hear his phone ring. He had the night off, so why would they be calling him? "This had better be good." Rude said when he answered the phone, trying to be quiet enough to not wake Tifa up. "What, are you my wife now? Oh fine, I'll be there in a few." Rude hung up the phone to see Tifa looking at him. "I'm sorry, I've got to run out for a little bit, but I'll be back soon, I promise." Rude kissed her before hurriedly getting dressed and leaving.

Tifa focused on his mentioning the word 'wife' on the phone, and then she started thinking about all the secret phone calls, his never wanting to go to his place, his unreliable schedule, and a nasty suspicion formed in her head.

Rude wasn't in the best mood when he met Reno at one of their checkpoints hidden throughout Midgar. "What was so damned important you had to drag me out here tonight?" he asked his partner. "Did someone die?" Noticing the serious expression on Reno's face, a chill went through Rude. "Wait, who died?!"

"It's not that." Reno said somberly. "I'm sorry I have to do this to you." He handed Rude a folder.

Rude cautiously opened the folder and started to scan the contents, then froze for a moment, just staring at the papers. "She's AVALANCHE?" he asked Reno.

"As far as we know. I can't keep Tseng from finding out about this for very long. You're going to have to deal with it." Reno said before disappearing into the shadows.

Rude stayed out there for a while, staring at the city lights until the cold got to him, and he headed slowly back to Tifa's place. He got his answer after all, she still hated Shin-Ra. Tifa was dressed and pacing back and forth in the living room, pausing when he walked in. She started to smile with relief, but it quickly disappeared.

"I want the truth, and I want it now. Are you married?" Tifa demanded to know.

Rude was stunned by her question. "Married?" he repeated. That's what she thought he had been hiding?

"That's what I asked you. Am I just something on the side you amuse yourself with?" She started to get angry.

Rude couldn't believe she would think he would do that, and he thought of all the phone calls that must have been AVALANCHE business. They had both lied to each other, but that wasn't the problem exactly, it was what his job meant for both of them. Rude's thoughts were going crazy, and he needed to get out of here.

"Answer me, dammit!" Tifa snapped at him, balling her fists.

As he looked at her, he decided that maybe it would be better this way. It'd be easier for her to think she was just his mistress than the truth that the organizations they worked for were at war with each other, making them enemies. "Yeah that's it, I'm married. It was fun, but I guess the game's over." Rude had to force the words out before turning and leaving.

Tifa wasn't sure how long she stood there in front of the door, but suddenly she was horribly exhausted. She didn't even know she had been crying until she started changing back into her nightgown, and realized her top was damp.

* * *

 **Chapter Eight**

"How come Mr. Rude hasn't cooked for us in a long time?" Marlene asked one day as Tifa cooked them breakfast.

"Because he's no longer my friend." Tifa told her, trying to ignore the pang she felt from saying that. It had been months since he had left, and she had done what she could to concentrate on the bar and AVALANCHE.

"Who's Mr. Rude?" Barret asked, walking in to see if breakfast was ready.

"None of your business, that's who." Tifa snapped. Barret took one look at her expression and turned and walked out.

* * *

"Are you going to come out of orbit anytime soon?" Reno asked Rude when their drinks arrived at one of their favorite bars.

"Huh?" Rude looked at his partner in confusion.

"That barmaid was totally checking you out and you're just staring off into space." Reno informed him. "How long has it been since you've had something like that?" He had been hoping a night of drinking and debauchery would help Rude get back on track after things went south with Tifa, but he wasn't cooperating.

"I'm just not into the quantity you are." Rude said as he sipped his beer. "I prefer quality."

"What's not quality about her? She looks good for a few rides around the track." Reno responded. He couldn't bring himself to remind Rude how his quality picks always seemed to end up in a train wreck, after all this night was supposed to be **fun**. "Okay, if not her, which of these women are quality enough for you?"

* * *

Tifa had been shocked to find Cloud wandering the streets of Midgar. Even though something obviously was different about him, maybe even something wrong, she was still glad to have him back in her life, and she wasn't going to let him leave again. She was tired of being alone. Barret had been skeptical about having an ex-SOLDIER on their team, but she overrode his objections, reminding him that they know where he stands. That was one of the many differences between Cloud and Rude, Cloud never lied to her.

* * *

"So we finally grab the Ancient?" Rude asked Reno.

"Nope, you do. I got other work to do. When you have her, contact Tseng and he'll pick you up." Reno said, giving Rude the coordinates of Aerith's last known location before leaving.

Rude followed his GPS navigation device, and when he surprised Aerith by suddenly appearing in her path, he got a surprise too.

"Mr. Rude!" Marlene exclaimed. "Where have you been?"

"You two know each other?" Aerith asked. She knew why he was here, but she didn't want to alarm Marlene.

Marlene nodded. "He makes funny food!"

"Will you take her to my mother's house?" Aerith requested. "I'll go with you."

Rude nodded, though he would have gotten Marlene somewhere safe without it being part of a deal, and called Tseng. Moments later, he arrived in a helicopter and Aerith got in. The helicopter flew off quickly as Rude led Marlene out of Sector 7.

"Where is the flower girl going? And how come you didn't want to be Tifa's special friend anymore?" Marlene was full of questions and information as they walked. Rude was told all about Tifa's new friend who didn't cook. He just let her talk so he could at least hear news about Tifa, even if the news was that she seemed to have found someone else. This was not turning out to be a good day for him.

Suddenly they both heard a strange noise as the Sector 7 plate started to fall. Rude had turned around and saw it first, then he grabbed Marlene and ran like hell. The impact sent shockwaves that knocked them down, but Rude was able to shield her from the debris that also came their way. It didn't hurt him much, but it would have really hurt Marlene. When it was all over, he carefully got up and made sure she was okay. She was physically fine, but she started crying when she saw what happened. Rude wasn't too happy himself, realizing there was a good chance Tifa was now dead. He was relieved to safely deliver a tearful Marlene to Aerith's foster mother, trying to ignore the faint accusation in Elmyra's eyes when he told her that Aerith asked him to bring Marlene. He was just not having a good day.

* * *

Tifa couldn't believe her eyes or ears as she and her allies stood on the path outside Gongaga Village, listening to Reno and Rude. _Rude was a Turk? Working for Shin-Ra? And he still cared about her_? She felt her world collapse again at the same time her heart leapt up.

Rude couldn't bring himself to strike Tifa as she and her allies challenged him alongside Reno and Elena, job or not. The fleeting expression on her face when she glanced at him made Rude wish he couldn't see again. She now knew his secret, but that didn't help at all.

* * *

As Cloud kissed her, Tifa was confused that her body didn't react to him the way it had for Rude. After everything she and Cloud had gone through, they must be meant to be together. And after defeating Sephiroth, they deserved to celebrate. She let Cloud undress her, and forced herself to pretend like she really enjoyed him. As he fell asleep on top of her, Tifa told herself it must be that Cloud didn't have the experience Rude had, she would have to teach him, and then everything would be perfect.

* * *

Tifa answered the phone, trying to keep her voice level when she heard Reno's voice on the other end. It had been two years since Meteorfall, and she still really didn't care for Reno, but she was glad he was still alive, because that meant Rude would be as well. She wouldn't admit it to anyone, even herself, but her life with Cloud was not what she thought it would be. The delivery business they started just gave him a reason to not be home, and when he was, he didn't seem that interested in her. After all they'd been through, why couldn't they be happy together?

* * *

Reno and Rude walked into the church, following orders to assist Cloud however possible, and when they saw the two bodies lying in the flower patch, Rude immediately ran to Tifa's side, checking her vitals. Reassuring himself that she was still alive, just unconscious, he gently picked her up, gesturing with his head for Reno to grab Cloud. Reno stared at him for a moment, since he outranked Rude and should be the one giving orders, but then he shrugged and picked up Cloud. If Rude was still trying to score with her, he wished his partner the best of luck.

* * *

Tifa wasn't happy. Not just because of how whiny Cloud was being, but because he was doing in front of Rude, and her former lover also got to see the separate twin beds she and her childhood sweetheart had because he hadn't touched her since they celebrated saving the world. Rude was the last person she wanted to know there was trouble in paradise.

Rude wisely kept silent during Tifa and Cloud's argument, though part of him wanted to deck Cloud for his neglect of her. He didn't mind talking to Cloud when Tifa was still unconscious, but he let Reno doing the talking once Tifa woke up. He didn't want her to think he was being a jealous ex-lover. If Tifa wanted to be with Cloud, Rude just wanted to make sure she was happy with him. If Cloud broke her heart, Rude would gladly break something of his, as long as Tifa didn't find out.

* * *

As Cloud looked at her in the church, Tifa was happy. Now that Cloud was cured of Geostigma and whatever had been dragging him down, she was convinced they could be happy together.

* * *

 **Chapter Nine**

"Another delivery on Rude's account." Cloud told Tifa as he hung up the phone.

Tifa frowned. Rude might now be one of the 'good guys', but she didn't like how he was constantly using their delivery service. He was back in her life, albeit only for business, but she didn't appreciate the doubts it caused within her about her choice to stay with Cloud. He had been healed in more ways than one, but their improved relationship was more like that of a brother and sister. They cared about each other, but it was completely platonic. She had plenty of love in her life, but no romance or passion, and she was trying to be okay with that . There was a knock on the door a few minutes later, and Cloud answered it.

"Well, I'll be…" Cloud said, then closed the door and walked back into the kitchen where Tifa was getting things ready for dinner. Cloud might be good at fighting monsters, but he was lost when it came to housework. "Here ya go." He handed her a fancy envelope.

"What's that?" Tifa asked.

"That's the delivery Rude wanted. It's for you." Cloud explained.

Tifa carefully opened the envelope. She gasped as she read the contents. "It's an invitation to that fundraising black tie social for potential W.R.O. benefactors. Only those who make at least in a month enough to buy this building were invited."

"You should go, you've been working too hard lately. A party would do you good." Cloud said.

"I don't have anything to wear!" Tifa protested. She felt like Rude was bribing her, and Cloud's support of the idea made her feel like he was trading her off.

"You have that dress you saved up for three months to buy that's too fancy for anywhere we can afford to go. Go have some fun!" Cloud insisted.

Tifa handed her invitation in at the registration desk, feeling very nervous and exposed. Once inside the ballroom, she was sure that someone would know she was a fraud and didn't belong there. The opulence all around her was astonishing. And she didn't see Rude anywhere, which only made her more nervous. He gave her the invitation, where was he?

"Care to dance?" A young man asked her as she was heading to a chair in the corner where she could watch everything better with a small plate of some delicacies for her to nibble on. He looked nice in his tuxedo, but all the men were wearing tuxedos of course.

"Oh, I, um…" Tifa was flustered, since she didn't know anything about ballroom dancing.

"Beat it, Charlie." A familiar voice said from behind the man, and Charlie quickly left, and Reno stood there, looking her over. "Not bad…no wonder he was going to try his luck with you. Be more careful, the man's a known perv."

"You'd know." Tifa retorted, and Reno smiled. "Where's Rude?" she asked.

"He's around somewhere. We're on the clock as security. All these bigwigs are just walking banks." Reno explained. "So, do you want to dance?"

"You just said you were working." Tifa reminded him. She didn't care for Reno much, but she was glad to see a familiar face, and she knew she could say anything to him without him taking it personally.

"Security has to blend in with the crowd. Come on, if you want Rude to show up, let him think someone else is trying to move in on his woman." Reno led her reluctantly onto the dance floor after handing her snack plate off to the nearest person.

"I'm not his woman!" Tifa snapped.

"Yeah, I know. That's his problem." Reno replied. "Trust me and follow my lead." He was almost daring her to protest his hands on her as he positioned her for their dance.

"What do you mean, 'that's his problem'?" Tifa asked as she tried to concentrate on dancing and what Reno was telling her.

"He never got over you." Reno said, leading her around the dance floor. "I've been trying to get him laid since he had to leave you, and pulling teeth was easier. I speak from experience on that score."

"If he cared so much, why didn't he ever tell me the truth?" Tifa's voice was bitter, once again feeling the sting of that betrayal.

"Why don't you ask him yourself?" Reno suggested, and Tifa realized that he had been dancing her over to where Rude was standing, keeping his eyes on the crowd. He was as surprised as Tifa when Reno nudged him. "It's your turn, buddy." Reno said, letting go of Tifa and walking off.

"I…uh…I'm glad you came." Rude told her.

"Why did you lie to me?" Tifa asked him.

"I was trying to protect you." Rude replied, knowing exactly what she was talking about. "Our organizations were at war with each other."

Tifa felt herself getting angry again. Did Rude think she was still a kid? That she couldn't have handled it if he had just told her they couldn't be together? She was about to start yelling at him when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Hey Toots, you wanna dance with me now? I've got a great place where we can do some horizontal moves." A drunk Charlie started trying to paw her.

Rude went to forcibly get rid of Charlie, but Tifa was quicker. She balled her hand into a fist before she turned around and knocked Charlie to the ground. His nose started bleeding, and an elegantly gowned Elena showed up, using Charlie's handkerchief to staunch the bleeding as she discreetly led the whining drunk man outside after giving Tifa the thumbs up sign.

"I don't need protection, I need to trust you!" Tifa snapped at Rude.

Their argument was interrupted by a dozen armed and armored figures swarming into the ballroom. Half broke through the windows overlooking the gardens, the other six came through the entrance. Shots rang out and the Turks sprang into action. Tifa also got busy, venting her emotions on the intruders. She and Rude ended up back to back against four of them. Tifa angrily wrenched the machine gun from the one closest to her, and smashed their visor in with it before switching to her fists. Rude cringed, remembering how it felt when his sunglasses broke and damaged his eyes, then he had to concentrate on his own fights. When the invasion was over, only one of the intruders had managed to escape, but five of the guests were dead.

"They got two of the board members, Laughlin and McDougall." Reno told Rude when he came over. "Tseng has called an emergency meeting at headquarters right away. Party's dead now anyway." Reno said as he stepped over one of the intruders' bodies.

"You better go." Tifa said to Rude as she caught her breath. Her dress was simply not meant for staving off an invasion.

"You're hurt!" Rude exclaimed, touching her arm where the flying glass from the windows had sliced her.

"It's nothing serious." Tifa said, trying to pull her arm away as well as not react to his hands on her again. He still had a gentle touch when needed. "Go to your meeting, I'm fine." Rude did leave, but not until he bandaged her arm with the first aid kit he found.

"How was the party?" Cloud asked Tifa when she finally got into her own bed next to his later that night.

"I had some drunk pervert try and get fresh with me, so I had to break his nose. Reno tried to teach me ballroom dancing, and some armed intruders crashed the party."

"What?!" The word burst out of Cloud. "Are you okay?"

"Of course I'm fine. I'll tell you more in the morning, though I don't know much." Tifa told him before turning the light off and trying to sleep, but her mind kept going over what Reno told her about Rude's feelings about her, and the sensation of Rude's hands on her again.

* * *

 **Chapter Ten**

"So you don't know who the intruders were?" Cloud asked her over breakfast the next morning.

"No, but I'm sure we'll find out eventually. The Turks were having an emergency meeting right after the attack." Tifa explained.

"Call Rude and ask him to meet you over lunch. Then you can find out sooner." Cloud handed her the phone.

"Mr. Rude! Can he make those funny pancakes for us again?" Marlene asked. "I haven't seen him since the day the plate fell."

Cloud, Tifa, and Denzel looked at her. "You saw him the day the Sector 7 plate fell?" Tifa quietly asked.

Marlene nodded. "The flower girl had to go in a helicopter, but she made him promise to take me to her home first."

Tifa dialed Rude's number. "Can you meet me for lunch this afternoon?" she asked without preamble when he answered the phone. "Where is that? Okay, see you then." Tifa hung up and handed the phone back to Cloud.

Rude stared at his phone, hope starting to flare up.

Rude was honest with Tifa about what he could tell her and what he couldn't, when they met for lunch at a nice little bistro. Unfortunately, he couldn't tell her much, but he let her know that it wasn't good.

"When will you be able to tell me anything?" Tifa asked as they waited for their food.

"I'm not sure. W.R.O. is still investigating, and they don't want to say anything without conclusive evidence." Rude explained.

The rest of the lunch passed pleasantly enough, except for the concern over what was happening. When Rude asked to meet her again for lunch, she surprised herself by accepting.

A month later, when they met for lunch as they had done frequently under the guise of exchanging information, she agreed to let him cook her dinner at his place when he offered.

"Do you mind having takeout for dinner?" she asked Cloud and the kids when she got home after lunch.

"What's going on?" Cloud wanted to know.

"Rude and I are having dinner." Tifa explained.

"Took long enough." Cloud said with a slight smile on his face.

"What?" Tifa was surprised and somewhat upset by his reaction. "You don't mind?"

Cloud took her into their bedroom and closed the door so Marlene and Denzel wouldn't overhear. "Look at what your life is!" He pointed to their separate twin beds. "That's not the kind of future you deserve. I want you to be happy. We're just…"

"We're childhood sweethearts!" Tifa blurted out defensively.

"We're not kids anymore, Tifa. Rude is more than willing to be for you what I can't. You wanted me to let go of the past and move on, now it's your turn. Quit holding onto your old feelings for me and the hurt Rude once caused you and let yourself be happy!" Cloud left her standing there to go finish helping the kids with their homework.

* * *

 **Chapter Eleven**

Tifa knocked on Rude's door, and a few moments later, he answered, looking a bit flustered. "Dinner is almost ready, I hope you still like kiri soup." Rude said before dashing back to the kitchen.

Tifa closed the door and looked around. She wasn't sure what she expected, but his place mixed modern and traditional styles very well. She was admiring the artwork he had in his living room when he called out that dinner was ready. His cooking skills hadn't changed, and she thoroughly enjoyed their meal together, which Rude told her included the proper entrée to be served with kiri soup. Afterwards, she insisted on helping him clean up. When she was bringing the dishes to him, she noticed the silly newspaper chef's hat she and Marlene had made for him years ago was on top of his refrigerator. _He had kept that?_ _Had Reno been serious when he said Rude never got over her_? She felt something change in her as she looked at the hat.

"I'm glad you came." Rude was telling her. "If you're available next…"

"I'm glad I came too." Tifa interrupted, impulsively kissing him.

Rude carried a willing Tifa to his bedroom. She must have forgiven him, and they were on the same side now, so there wasn't anything left that could come between them, he'd see to that. As she felt Rude's naked body against hers, Tifa finally admitted to herself how much she had missed being with him. The years apart hadn't changed their bodies' familiarity with each other, or dimmed Rude's knowledge of what she liked.

"I love you, Tifa." Rude murmured just before they both fell asleep, as happy as he had ever been.

Tifa woke up to delicious smells coming from the kitchen. She didn't know where her clothes were, so she put on one of Rude's shirts. Walking into the kitchen, she found him cooking what Marlene called 'funny pancakes' because they were stuffed, and an omelet for them to share.

"Good morning." Tifa said, startling him briefly. She smiled and kissed him on the cheek. "I hope you don't mind me wearing your shirt."

"It looks better on you." Rude told her as he glanced her way before focusing on cooking their breakfast.

"How come Aunt Tifa isn't making breakfast this morning?" Marlene asked Cloud.

"She stayed over at a friend's house and isn't home yet, so you're stuck with just cereal this morning." Cloud explained. He was relieved that she hadn't come home the night before, it most likely meant she and Rude finally made up.

"A friend? Mr. Rude?" Marlene continued her questioning.

"If that's where she is, I bet I know what they were doing." Denzel said, the expression on his face reminding Cloud of Reno.

"That's none of your business." Cloud told him before Marlene could ask what he meant. "But things might be changing around here." He made a mental note to talk to Tifa about seeing if she could cook meals ahead of time that he could just reheat for the kids for when she wouldn't be there. Either that or ask the reunited couple to teach him how to cook.

Ten days later, Rude and Tifa were enjoying Sunday brunch in his bed when he finally explained who crashed the fundraising party.

"Deepground?" Tifa repeated the name.

Rude nodded. "Reeve's going to need all the help he can get. Deepground is what gives SOLDIER screaming nightmares."

"I'll call Cloud and put the word out." Tifa was happy that Rude was being upfront with her about everything, even if barest explanation of the macabre experiments that created Deepground made her shudder, and Rude pulled her closer to him when he felt her reaction. "Careful!" Tifa mock-scolded him as she almost spilled her mimosa before she put it down on the bed tray and grabbed her phone from the nightstand, texting Cloud about Deepground and asking him to assemble their team together, so that they'd all be there when she got back home in a little while. "That's done." Tifa tossed her phone back onto the nightstand, then snuggled against Rude. "You ready to help save the world again?" she asked as she doodled on his chest with her finger, reminding him of the assistance he gave Cloud during the Geostigma outbreak.

"I'm ready for more than that." Rude answered, taking hold of her hand. Tifa looked at him with a twinkle in her eyes, and soon he had her shuddering in a much more pleasant way.

"I better get home now." Tifa said reluctantly when her phone went off again, getting out of his bed and putting her clothes back on. "Be careful, okay?" she asked after Rude got out of bed as well, walking her to his door.

"Always." Rude kissed her. "You be careful too." he requested. "I love you." Rude opened the door for her.

"I love you too." Tifa said, with a backwards glance at him as she headed home to get ready for another battle royale.

During the final showdown with Deepground, the Turks fought alongside Cloud and his allies. Rude and Reno were clearing a path in the eastern quadrant when a Deepground fighter hidden in the alleyway threw a grenade on top of some oil cans near them. Rude saw it first and went to toss it back in the alleyway when it blew. The force of the blast also toppled the wall of the nearby derelict building, which had the advantage of stopping the oil cans from starting a fire. Reno was knocked to the ground, and laid there dazed for a few moments before he carefully got up.

"Well, that was another close one, wasn't it, partner?" Reno brushed his suit off, and when he didn't hear a response, looked around. "Rude? Where are you?" He looked towards the pile of rubble from the wall and saw a familiar foot sticking out from under it. A chill went through Reno. "Rude?" He ran over and started digging through the rubble. "Rude! Come on, get out of there!"

Cloud felt a chill himself when he hung up the phone. He and Tifa were back at home, having a celebratory dinner with Marlene and Denzel. The look on his face worried all of them. "Tifa and I have to go now, you two finish your dinner and brush your teeth before bed." He grabbed Tifa's hand and quickly led her protesting downstairs.

"What is going on, Cloud? Why do we have to go anywhere? Vincent saved the day, it's time to relax." Tifa wanted to know what was going on as Cloud stopped in front of Fenrir.

"We've got to get to the hospital now." Cloud replied, not looking at her.

"Why?" A heavy weight started to form in her chest and Tifa felt a paralyzing stab of fear. "Who is it?"

"It's Rude." Cloud reluctantly admitted. He barely caught Tifa in time to stop her from hitting the ground when she collapsed.

* * *

 **Chapter Twelve**

When they arrived at the hospital, Tifa went to the nurses' station and demanded to know what room Rude was in, and the nurse was just about to call security over Tifa's response to be refused information, when Reno heard her and came over. His expression made the heavy weight in her chest worse.

"Rude's still in surgery, it'll be hours before he's out, if he even survives." he told Tifa and Cloud as they all walked to the waiting room, where Elena and Tseng were seated.

Tifa was sure she must have worn a hole in the floor with her constant pacing back and forth. The only time she sat down was when Reno was telling Cloud the extent of Rude's injuries that he knew of. She had to sit, because her legs started feeling wobbly again. Cloud kept bringing her strong coffee to keep her awake, until he fell asleep after calling Yuffie and asking her to stay with Denzel and Marlene. It was eight hours until Rude made it through surgery, and when she found out what private room he was going to be recuperating in, Tifa demanded a second bed brought in so she could stay with him. The head nurse immediately refused, so Reno intervened again.

"I think you'll find Miss Lockhart outranks you by a considerable margin and is to be given whatever she wants. If we have to call your boss and tell them that Mr. Tuesti is very disappointed with how his officials are treated, what will that do for your career?" Reno asked the nurse, who went off in a huff. "Brownnoser!" Reno muttered under his breath.

When the second bed was brought in, Tifa tried to ignore the fear that their relationship was going to end just like it began, in a hospital room. She had her bed moved close enough so that she could hold his hand as she slept. Cloud had gone home once he woke up, checking in on her once a day while the kids were at school. The next three weeks were a blur to her, she barely slept in her bed after all, she mostly just sat by his bedside, either pleading for him to wake up or constantly apologizing for taking so long to come to her senses and telling him how much she cared about him. Cloud was worried how she seemed to be making herself sick, but Tifa insisted she was fine, just stressed. She tried not to look at anything but Rude's hand. The leather gloves he had on protected them from getting too damaged. She couldn't bear to see all the marks on the rest of his body that showed the physical trauma he went through. The doctors told her that if he suffered any permanent brain damage, it wouldn't be obvious until he regained consciousness. And once he did, they'd have to do more surgery on him. They only did what was necessary to keep him alive, he would still need more corrective and cosmetic surgery once his mental state was assessed.

"Kiri soup." Tifa thought she heard him say on the twenty-second day of her bedside vigil.

"Did you say something?" Tifa asked him hopefully, and she saw his eyelids flutter.

"Kiri soup." he repeated.

"You do make a good batch of it." Tifa told him as he slowly opened his eyes, letting them adjust to the light. She pushed the call button to get the doctors in there to check him over.

The doctors examined him, and he just kept repeating 'kiri soup' in response to their questions, but they told her not to worry just yet, because it might be that the soup is all he can remember at the moment, and just be grateful he could talk at all. It took a few more days for him to be able to regain his vocabulary, and when he did, he was eager to talk to Tifa once they were left alone from all the medical staff and well-wishers.

"Were you here with me the whole time?" Rude asked, squeezing her hand, and Tifa nodded. "What would you have done if I hadn't been able to remember anything?"

"I'll tell you when I get back. I need to run to the cafeteria for something to eat. Hospital food hasn't improved in the last five years, and I'm starving." Tifa squeezed his hand back before leaving. When she returned, she was surprised to see an attractive blonde woman walk in to Rude's room. The woman looked somewhat familiar, but Tifa didn't recognize her. She didn't mean to listen in on their conversation, but they weren't being quiet.

"You gave us quite a scare, you know that, don't you Rude?" the woman told him, kissing him on his cheek as a greeting.

"You should know it takes more than a bomb and a falling building to take out a Turk." Rude replied.

"I'm glad of that. How is…what's her name?…Tifa?" she asked.

"You know about her?" Rude was surprised.

"My brother-in-law owns the bistro where you had all your lunch dates." she explained. "Good thing I don't have any reason to be jealous." The woman fiddled with her wedding ring. "Remember our honeymoon?"

"Oh, please don't remind me of that right now. I can't pull my stitches." Rude said, groaning.

Tifa stood there in shock. She couldn't believe what she was hearing…Rude was married after all? She started to back away to leave when she collided with Reno, who was on his way to visit his partner.

"Don't bother him right now." Tifa told Reno angrily. "He's in there with his wife."

" **Wife**?! What the hell are you talking about?" Reno stared at Tifa like she was crazy, then peeked into Rude's room. "Oh, that's Elena's older sister. They were partnered together for a few missions years ago. She's married with two kids now."

Tifa let that sink in, feeling herself calm down, firing off one more question at him. "Then why were they talking about their honeymoon?"

"Ooooooh, I'll let him tell you all about that. They posed as newlyweds for a mission that was one for the record books, and not in a good way." Reno said, shaking his head. Since Rude already had company, he headed towards the nurses' station to try and get some action. "How could Tifa think I was gay?" he wondered aloud.

"I know ya ain't gay, my little carrot dumplin'." A voice Reno had tried to forget said from behind him.

Reno felt like ice had just been dumped down his back, and he slowly turned around. "Bertha!" he squeaked out her name.

"You remembered!" Bertha smiled, but it was hard to tell the difference between that and a grimace with her facial features.

"What…what are you doing here?" Reno managed to ask, feeling trapped in his own personal nightmare.

"I was in the maternity ward…" Bertha turned around and pointed in that direction when Reno paled and fainted. "Well, what was that about? I was just gonna tell him that I was delivering some incubators. Poor lily of a man…"

Tifa entered Rude's hospital room, and he smiled to see her back so soon. "Tifa, I'd like you to meet…"

"Elena's older sister." Tifa smiled at her, not wanting to admit how she almost ruined things by jumping to conclusions.

"My name's Maria. I better go, the nanny's shift ends in half an hour. Glad you're alright, Rude." she said before leaving.

Once alone again, Tifa took hold of his hand again. "I know exactly what I'd do if you hadn't remembered anything. I would have just constantly reminded you that you're the man that I love." Tifa leaned over and kissed him, and Rude gently pulled her down onto the bed with him. She carefully curled up next to him, and Rude's arm tightened around her. "But if you lost your ability to cook, I might never forgive you." she teased him. Suddenly she shot out of his bed, running into the bathroom, where Rude heard her vomiting.

"Are you okay?" Rude asked her when she came back.

"I'm fine, it's probably because my stomach is used to your cooking, not hospital food. I've not felt right since I've been here with you. It's just stress, but that's going to go away now that you're getting better." Tifa explained.

"Why don't you have to a doctor check you out to be sure?" Rude insisted. "I don't want to lose you again." He pushed his call button and made her go with the nurse for an exam, even though she felt he was overreacting to what she felt was a mild case of food poisoning.

Rude was nervous during the two hour wait for Tifa's return. She had her head down until she was next to his bed. "What did the doctor say?" he asked anxiously.

She shot her head up with a huge smile on her face. "It's a good thing Bertha delivered new incubators to the maternity ward." she said.

Rude's jaw dropped as he stared at her, then the name triggered a memory. "Bertha? The truck driver Bertha? Oh, I hope for his sake that Reno is nowhere near here. Dammit, you women are determined to make me pull my stitches, aren't you?!" Rude fought hard against laughing, not just over what Reno's reaction would be if he ran into Bertha again, but that Tifa was carrying their child. Unfortunately, he was losing that battle.

"Why is Bertha so funny to you?" Tifa asked. She didn't get it the first time he laughed over Bertha after the grand opening of Seventh Heaven either. To get him to stop laughing, she leaned over and kissed him, and they both heard wedding bells when their lips touched.


End file.
